POP MUSIC : New Bands Must Play Good Music--and Play the Game

The main reason so many great new San Diego rock bands fail to build up much of a following and eventually fade away is that they don’t know how to promote themselves.

This unfortunate majority could learn a valuable lesson from Secret Society, a metal-funk quartet that for the last month has been the most talked-about original-music band in town.

The four members--singer Cruz, guitarist Dave Britton, bassist Michael Davis and drummer Dale Patterson--knew from the start that it’s not only how good you are at playing music, it’s how good you are at playing the game.

“We’re all veterans of other bands, and we’ve learned from experience that you’ve got to get people interested in your music,” Davis said. “Too many bands think you just book a show and then you’re done, but that’s really where the work starts.”

Secret Society was formed last March and spent most of the spring, summer and fall writing songs and rehearsing. There were a few scattered club dates and a few trips to the studio to cut some tracks.

Then, in November, the guys got down to business. They released a four-song cassette and distributed 250 copies to local record stores: Blue Meannie in El Cajon, Off the Record in East San Diego, Encinitas, and Hillcrest, and Tower Records on Sports Arena and El Cajon boulevards. They kept the price low, $4, because they’re more interested “in getting our music out to the people than to make money,” Davis said.

The band members subsequently sent copies of the cassette, along with photos and bios, to local pop critics, and were rewarded with reviews or mentions in The Times, the Reader, and the San Diego Union.

Largely on the strength of this publicity, Secret Society began getting steady nightclub work, showcasing at Rio’s in Loma Portal and the Bacchanal in Kearny Mesa, where they recently opened for ex-Rod Stewart guitarist (and fellow San Diegan) Stevie Salas and his new band, Color Code.

At these gigs, Secret Society began soliciting names for a mailing list. And, earlier this month, the nearly 300 people who signed up were mailed the premiere issue of Update, a monthly newsletter that includes an order form for cassettes and merchandise like Secret Society photos and buttons, available for a buck each.

All of this has paid off quite well, Davis said: The band has already sold upward of 100 cassettes and 50 photos and buttons. And, at Secret Society club gigs, crowds of up to 200 are not uncommon--a great showing for any local band, particularly one that plays only originals.

Now that they’ve established themselves locally, Davis said, Secret Society is ready to go on to the next step: applying the same promotional savvy to snare a national record deal.

“We’re going back into the studio at the end of January and record some new stuff, some stronger material,” Davis said. “Our first tape was recorded when we had only been together for two months, and, when you’re in a band with somebody brand new, it’s tough to say, ‘That sucks,’ because then they might not want to work with you.

“But now we’re comfortable enough to say, ‘Uh uh, that doesn’t cut it,’ and keep working on it together until we all like it. So with this tape, we’re not just going to release it in San Diego to keep the local buzz going, but also use it as a demo, to pump the national labels.”

Secret Society’s next hometown performance is Jan. 6 at Rio’s. Sharing the bill will be two other fine local bands, Comanche Moon and Shotgun Marriage.

The Beat Farmers’ two-night stand this weekend at the Bacchanal will be taped for an upcoming live album on MCA/Curb Records.

The San Diego roots rockers plan on introducing several previously unrecorded songs at their Dec. 30 and 31 shows, including “Maureen,” written by David and Douglas Farage, formerly with pioneering local new wave group DFX2, and a cover of the Kinks’ “20th Century Man.”

“It’s hard to say what’s actually going to make it onto the album until we listen to the tapes and everyone gets their two cents in,” said Beat Farmers’ drummer Country Dick Montana.

The as-yet-untitled live album is scheduled to be released sometime next spring, Montana said. In the meantime, the group will spend a month in Europe, touring with Steve Earle, and then return home to San Diego for a series of warm-up dates in preparation for their next U.S. tour.

Before the Beat Farmers head over to Europe, Montana said, he’ll head up to Los Angeles to oversee the mixing and mastering of a live album by the Pleasure Barons, a campy 13-piece Las Vegas-style revue he put together last February, just for fun, with fellow San Diegan Mojo Nixon and Dave Alvin, founder of Los Angeles rockabilly revivalists the Blasters.

After a three-week, 17-city tour of the United States and Canada, Montana said, it was all over--or so he thought.

“But we still have some tapes from that tour,” he said, “and now, more than nine months after our last performance, Enigma Records tells me they want to release a live Pleasure Barons album, using those tapes.”

Once the album comes out, Montana added, there’s a good chance “Mojo and me will reactivate the Pleasure Barons,” at least temporarily, between their other obligations.

“They’ve been in a cage for so long,” he said, “and with all this new interest, they’re anxious to get out.”

LINER NOTES: The Jan. 3 Psychedelic Furs concert has been moved from Symphony Hall to the Bacchanal, reportedly because of a potential scheduling conflict with “Phantom of the Opera.” The new showtime is 8:30 p.m. Tickets will be honored for those 21 and up; minors can get refunds at point of purchase. . . .

Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. for Joe Satriani’s Feb. 3 appearance at the California Theater downtown. Opening the show will be Stevie Salas and Color Code. . . .

Best concert bets for the coming week: the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Thursday at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach; the Cult and Bonham, Friday at the San Diego Sports Arena; Eddie Money, Friday at the Bacchanal; the Paladins and the Trebels, Friday at the Belly Up Tavern; the B-52’s, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Love Tractor, Sunday (New Year’s Eve) at the Sports Arena; and the Bonedaddys and Talk Back, Sunday at the Belly Up.